Only the Beginning
by GatnissShamyClato
Summary: Clato oneshot, Clove's POV, set pre-hunger games. Basically the beginning of Clato. Please R&R!


**A/N: I wrote this for a competition on tumblr (my url is clovelyodesta if you want to check out my blog :p) so figured I may as well upload it here. Enjoy! :)**

"My best spear is missing!" a male voice thundered throughout the vast hall of the training centre, echoing in every corner as well as through my head.

I growled, turning my head in the direction of the sound.

"Shut up, Venin!" I snapped back at one of the most annoying boys in the District who was standing with his arms flung in the air in ire. There was an empty space in the uniform rack of spears where I was guessing his would have been. Well, tough luck. If he wanted it, he should have taken better care of it.

"Or what, Clove?" he demanded back, taking his eyes off of the spear rack and taking a step in my direction, eying me with pure hatred. The feeling was mutual.

I may have been young, but he should have known better than to underestimate me.

I just scoffed, turning my back to him for a second and tossing my knife from hand to hand.

I spun around, raven ponytail flying over my shoulder, flinging the lethal knife that was clasped in my hand in the direction of his feet. It dug into the foam mat he was standing on, missing him by millimetres.

Venin jumped backwards, flinching in shock.

"Please go away," I called over my shoulder, feigning a polite tone. "And keep it down. Some of us are trying to train."

I emphasised my point by grabbing another metal handled, small-scale knife and sending it plunging into the heart of the nearest dummy, bang on target of course.

Venin was about to lob some pathetic come back at me when Brutus, our trainer, marched into the room.

"I hope you're all doing what you should be!" he bellowed, silencing the room.

I continued hitting targets with my knives, picking up my pace with each one. Unlike some of the people at the centre, I actually liked training. Much more than being at school or home, anyway.

"Someone's taken my spear," Venin explained to Brutus angrily. He paused before nodding to me, "I bet it was her."

Brutus shook his head with a sigh. I supposed that my regular quarrels with Venin may have become a little tiring to him. It wasn't me that caused any of them though.

"I very much doubt that Clove took your spear. There have been a number of weapons going missing from the academy, actually. We're getting it looked into. Just use a different one for today."

Venin glowered at him before storming off to grab another spear, muttering and grumbling the whole way. I just smirked at his retreating back, imagining sticking a knife between his shoulder blades. It would be so easy.

When I turned my head I saw Brutus looking at me with an arched eyebrow as if he could read my thoughts. Not that I cared: I just carried on with my knife throwing losing myself in the feeling of utter power; I was easily the best in the room. The blades continued to sink into the stuffed dummies, thud thud thud. It was one of the best sounds I'd ever heard.

Time passed quicker than I expected as usual.

It wasn't long before I was one of the only people remaining and the sky outside had faded from blue to ebony black. I was always the last person in the building.

"Time to go, Clove," Brutus called, poking his head around the door to the training room that I was in. "Lock up before you leave."

I nodded as I heard him leave, waiting another five minutes before finally giving up and scurrying out of the training centre, yanking the door shut behind me. I got home not much later, to an empty house, no surprises. Tell me again, why did I even bother?

I couldn't sleep. As usual. I needed to get out of the house; it was stuffy, quiet, too empty. I leapt out of bed, threw on the clothes I'd been wearing earlier that day and left without a second thought.

It was much later than I should have been out. My parents were away; my father working a night shift, my mother in an all-night council meeting. No one would even notice I was gone. Not like they would have anyway.

The faded denim sky glistened with diamond-like stars and the occasional swirl of candy-floss cloud. There was a strong breeze, enough to make me pick up my pace. The walk to the training centre took less than a minute; even in the dark. It was crazy how much more at home I was there than in my actual house, surrounded by family. I didn't need family. I didn't need anyone.  
I gingerly pulled back the heavy metal door around the back of the building, the one with a dodgy lock that Brutus had been forgetting to fix for four years now. If it meant easy access for me, I was all for it.

I had been going to the training centre after school, at night, whenever I had free time for as far back as my memories extended. It wasn't exactly to improve (I was already one of the best in my District) but more just because I liked being there. It was one of the only places in the world that I could actually be myself, as horribly cliché as that sounded.

I flicked on a couple of light switches and was momentarily blinded by the lit-up room. I had only been here 3 or 4 hours ago but the feeling of relief that swept over me suggested otherwise. I immediately jogged over to the knife-throwing section that I spent the majority of my time, gathering a few of my favourites. The first blade I picked up was tiny with a pearly handle – probably one of the most expensive in the whole training centre. Just as I was preparing to begin, a loud crack echoed from outside the room caused me to flinch.

I froze in my tracks, spinning around. There was the distinct sound of footsteps filling the silence getting louder and louder, closer and closer. No one was allowed to be in the training centre after hours. Sure, _I_ was there but I was an exception. I actually knew how to handle the weapons.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't scared, just… concerned.

In that second, the door of the room I was in was flung backwards as someone entered.

"Stay where you are!" I demanded. "I have weapons."

The person completely ignored me, strolling in at complete ease. Once my eyes had adjusted to the bright light from the corridor, I could actually make out more of who it was who'd arrived.

It was a broad boy, tall, well-built with messy blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He was smirking.

I recognised the boy from training; his name was Cato as far as I was aware. Good with a sword, spears sometimes as well. Cocky as hell.

"Ooh, scary," he mocked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

I ignored him, placing my hands on my hips in annoyance.

"Oh, just walk in why don't you."

He chuckled.

"Thanks, I think I will."

I rolled my eyes without consciously meaning to.

"What are you doing here?"

Cato carried on walking until he was right in my face, grabbing the knife out of my hand and tossing it in the air.

"What are _you _doing here, Clove?" he asked in response.

How did he know who I was?

"Like that's any of your business," I snapped, snatching the knife back. "Seriously, what-"

I was suddenly being cut off as the same door that Cato had just walked through was thrown backwards, hitting the wall with a thundering bang.

"Don't move!" someone yelled marching into the room, another person on their tail.

Two men, dressed all in white was all I could make out. Make that two men _with guns. _Peacekeepers.

"Get on the ground!" one of them shouted, aiming the gun at us.

It didn't take much to scare me but I decided it would be in my best interests to follow the orders.

Cato looked at me and our eyes met for a panicked second before he decided to do as they were asking as well.

We both knelt on the floor and raised our hands.

"Why are you two here?"

"We weren't doing anything-" Cato started but they didn't let him finish.

"Of course not," Peacekeeper number 1 hollered. "There have been a number of weapons going missing from these premises lately."

"Well it wasn't _us_," I huffed.

"What's that in your hand?" he questioned Cato, who still had my knife held in his fist.

There was a couple of beats of silence.

"I was just – well it's a knife but – look, it's really not what it looks like-"

"Of course it isn't," the second peacekeeper sighed, rolling his eyes. "You two are coming with us."

"Um, I don't think so," I scoffed, starting to get to my feet.

The peacekeeper aimed his gun right at me, no mercy in his eyes.

"I said _you're coming with us_."

I gulped, remaining where I was as one of them came around and cuffed my wrists in thick, metal loops, guiding me to my feet and marching me out of the building. It was so humiliating. The same was done to Cato; he was lead along behind me. I was just thankful that it was so late at night; there was no one out and about at this time. No one to see us, thank God.

It took hardly any time at all for us to get to the small District 2 prison. I'd only been once before.

The door of the prison building was launched backwards as the peacekeepers prodded us in, looking around for a free spot to leave us.

I winced as one of them ripped off my handcuffs and threw me into the only available cell, my cheek smacking into the cold, hard wall. Cato was shoved in a second later, though less violently than me.

"You can't put him in the same cell as me!" I practically screeched. "In fact, you can't put me in a cell at all! _I'm innocent_."

"Save it," the peacekeeper snapped, closing the door with force and clicking the lock into place. "We'll talk in the morning."

"I'm serious! You can't do this!" I screamed at his retreating back. The peacekeeper waved his hand in dismissal, walking out of the building without a backward glance.

I turned to Cato in outrage, wondering why he wasn't joining me in my anger.  
He was smirking. _Again. _"Do you want to explain to me what's remotely funny about any of this?"  
"Hmm, let me think. How about your face right now?" he answered, smirk morphing into a full blown grin.

I glowered at him, fuming. How could he be so blasé about all of this?

"You know," he continued, stepping closer to me, "you're incredibly sexy when you're mad."

I gaped at him, enjoying the audible slap of my hand connecting with his face.

"Hey! What was that for?" he exclaimed, holding his already reddening cheek and pouting.

I shook my head in disbelief.

"You are such an asshole!" I spat.

Cato shrugged.

"Well… yeah."

I growled, rolling my eyes and pounding on the railings.

"Let me out!" I ordered the guards but when there was only silence in response, I guessed that they had all left. Damn.

"I don't think they're listening," Cato commented from the bed in the corner of the cell.

"Helpful," I snapped sarcastically, turning to face him. "Wait-" I backtracked to what I'd just seen; I'd been too angry to even notice earlier. He was sitting on the bed in the corner. "Great," I snarled, placing a hand over my forehead in irritation. "One bed."

"Looks like we'll have to share," he grinned, stretching his arms out behind his head and lying down backwards.

Ugh.

"I can't believe you!" I cried, kicking the bed with as much force as I could muster (which, to be honest, wasn't a whole lot given that I hadn't slept in about 19 hours).

"How is it my fault that we got locked up in jail for the night?!"

I glared at him, my mouth hanging open.

"How is it _not_?! If you hadn't have come to the training centre, they wouldn't have suspected me!"

"Oh yeah, because you're _so_ innocent."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

He ignored my question, sighing audibly.

"You never even told me why you were there," I realized, crossing my arms across my chest.

Cato pretended to think about his answer.

"That's because it's none of your business."

I ground my teeth together in frustration, sitting down on the cold, filthy floor, despite not wanting to. It was that or share the bed with Cato which wasn't exactly ideal.

I shut my eyes for a second, comprehending the situation. _How have you let this happen, Clove?_Damn damn damn. My parents were going to kill me. Not to mention Brutus.

When I looked up, Cato was eying me speculatively.

"What?" I demanded in a clipped tone.

"Jeez why are you always so angry?" he complained.  
_  
__Excuse _me?

"I am _not_always angry. In case you hadn't noticed, we've been locked in a cell for the night and accused of theft. Sorry if that doesn't exactly make me the happiest person to be around."

Cato shook his head, still starring at me like I was a puzzle to solve.

"It's not just because of this though. I don't remember ever seeing you smiling."

I opened my mouth in outrage, prepared to spit out a remark when he stopped me, placing his palm in the air.

"Just stop for a second and tell me this: when was the last time you were genuinely pleased about something?"

"What's it to you?" I questioned him, scowling.

"Look, you have to spend the entire night in here with me. May as well just answer the question."

I stared at the ground thinking about how annoying he would surely be if I refused to answer. _Just tell him_. Well, that was fine except for uno problem; I couldn't remember. At all.

I enjoyed training but I supposed that it didn't especially show. What would be the point of throwing weapons around viciously and grinning your head off? Nobody would take you seriously. So of course I looked angry at the training centre. He had probably seen me looking mad at school but that was because, in my mind, school was a complete waste of time and effort and quite frankly I hated being there. I was generally miserable at home because I hated my parents and pretty much everything about my home life.

"I don't know," I muttered, completely blank.

"My point exactly. And you tell me you're not always mad."

"Maybe it's because I have nothing to be happy about," I growled. "Never considered that, did you?"

Cato was silent for a second or two, trying to lock eyes with me but I refused to look at him.

"I have, actually," he informed me quietly.

What?

"I-" I wasn't really sure how to respond. "You don't even know me!"

"I know more than you might think."

This time, when I looked up, our eyes did meet. The second that I glanced at him, Cato and I both burst into slightly hysterical, simultaneous laughter.

"Okay that may have sounded a little creepy," he allowed but I spoke over him.

"Majorly creepy."

Our laughter died down and his gaze returned to being serious.

"Made you smile," he teased, grinning at me.

"Shut up," I ordered, though I was fighting a smile myself.  
_  
__What are you doing?_ My brain yelled at me internally. It wasn't like me to start talking to someone who I didn't particularly know. Especially a cocky flirt like Cato. But, given the situation, it wasn't like I had much choice.

"So anyway. You're the knife girl. Stabby," Cato grinned, filling the silence.

I winced at his nickname but smiled a little in spite of myself.

"I guess I am. And you're - what? Sword?"

"You mispronounced awesome," he grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

"Hilarious," I drawled.

"Finally we agree on something."

I rolled my eyes, relaxing further back against the wall.

"You're not so bad," Cato commented after a little while.

"Gee, thanks."

"No, I mean considering what everyone says."

My head snapped up slightly at his words.

"Everyone who?"

Cato glanced at the floor sheepishly.

"You know. Everyone. You're the psycho knife-thrower."

I snorted.

"Psycho?"

"Well that's what I thought," he said, "but apparently not."

"How do you know? I might kill you when you're sleeping."

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"You won't."

I laughed lightly, picking at my nails.

"So what do you think of me now?" I quizzed him, curiosity taking over.

Cato glanced at me as I spoke, adjusting himself into a sitting position.

"Well, I think you actually have a human side, no matter what people say or if you try to cover it up. You underestimate yourself. And right now," he told me, lowering his voice, getting to his feet and slowly taking a few steps towards me, "I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

My eyes widened at his words and when he continued to advance towards me, I scrambled to my feet as well.

"What? You're joking right?" I asked in disbelief, pressing my back against the wall to escape him.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" he murmured, now just inches away.

"Cato, stop. You don't know me. You don't know what you're saying."

"Don't give me that. You know exactly what's going on here. Don't tell me you can't feel the connection between us."

I swallowed.

It was funny because I did know. It was hard to explain. I had never really felt so comfortable around someone as quickly as I had with Cato. It was like some kind of instant chemistry or something. And I wasn't exactly the type of person who got on with someone just like that.

"I don't know-" I began but he cut me off, grabbing me by the shoulders and pushing me further back against the wall.

"Clove," he breathed. "I've seen you in training. I think you're incredible."

I opened my mouth to reply (although what I was going to say I'm not quite sure) but never quite got there, Cato's lips crushing mine hungrily. At first I was too shocked to react, I just stood motionless as he kissed me roughly; no tenderness, just aggression. But after a second my lips were moving in perfect synchronization with his, my hands gripping his face in my desperate bid for closeness. _What are you doing? Stop, right now! _I screamed at myself but my mouth had other ideas. I had never felt anything as good as his lips on mine like petals brushing together in the autumn wind.

I shook my head slightly, pushing him away from me.

"What are you doing?" I breathed, slightly out of breath.

"I'm kissing you," Cato panted, capturing me in his never-ending sapphire eyes that resembled the bottom of the ocean; mysterious, and intriguing.

Without thinking about it, I grabbed Cato's shoulders and shoved him backwards, watching him topple onto the grubby bed in the corner of the prison cell. I followed instantly, pouncing on top of him and sinking my fingers into his tousled hair, yanking his face back to mine with a gasp. When our lips connected again, it was no less thrilling as the first time, no less passionate. It was like my brain had shut down and my body was acting on instinct; it was a similar feeling to how I trained with knives. I hitched my legs free and wrapped them around his waist as one of his hands stroked through my dark hair, the other gripping my thigh. His mouth parted slightly and mine mirrored him without me consciously meaning to. My whole mouth was filled with his sweet, sultry breath and when I felt his tongue on mine, my heart melted like butter. Cato flipped on to his back so that I was on top of him, his hands running across my shoulder blades, the small of my back, squeezing me closer to him than I thought was possible. And my brain… exploded. Kaboom. Millions of different pieces of it went flying off into the distance like a faulty firework. At that moment, there could have been no one else in the world but me and him and I wouldn't have cared.

I pulled back momentarily to gulp in a breath but soon fell back into his embrace, unable to resist.

My last conscious memory was Cato breathing my name.

_Ugh_.

I awoke with a groan, unclosing my bleary eyes and taking in my surroundings. There was bright light streaming in through the thick, metal railings of the jail cell. Daylight.

I sat up with a start as the situation came flooding back, hitting me like a brick in the face. I glanced to my left where Cato was sprawled out, still deep in sleep. I covered my eyes with my hands, cringing. Oh, God, what had I done?

A sudden clomp of thick boots caused me to jump to my feet in shock. A lanky peacekeeper appeared in front of the cell door. He wasn't one of the ones who'd thrown us in there the day before; this one didn't carry a gun and had kind eyes.

He nodded at me and asked, "You're Clove?"

"That's me," I qualified, taking a step forwards in anticipation. "So what's happening? Can we leave?"

The peacekeeper smiled slightly at my eagerness.

"You can leave. We contacted your parents, don't worry they know where you are." They obviously didn't care enough to come and get me out, though. "Anyway, turns that they caught the guy actually responsible for stealing the weapons."

I threw my hands up in exasperation.

"I _told_ them I was innocent."

He laughed.

"I'm sure you did. Here, let me get you out," he told me, pulling a ginormous set of silver keys from his pocket and fishing around until he had the right one. The key clicked into place and the door swung backwards with a creak. I flinched at the loud noise, looking back at Cato who was, thankfully, still blissfully asleep.

"You want to take him with you?" the peacekeeper asked, nodding at Cato.

I smirked.

"No, it's fine," I answered, turning and fleeing from the building as fast as I possibly could.

The light from outside burned my eyes slightly but I didn't slow down, enjoying the slight breeze on my face. It didn't take long for me to arrive at my house, charging through the door to find it empty, of course. I didn't particularly care, though.

I felt disgusting having spent the night in a grubby jail cell. Wincing, I peeled off my day-old clothes and jumped in the shower, relief warming me as much as the streaming water. The shower also gave me a chance to clear my head. I was still shocked at myself for doing what I'd done. It was so unlike me. I felt… guilty somehow.

Once I'd cleaned up, I returned to my bed and flopped down in exhaustion, groaning when I heard the front door open downstairs. Great.

I trailed down the stairs and faced my parents' wrath. I was pretty used to it by now; all they did was complain. They didn't seem too surprised about me being in jail which made me unreasonably angry. It was like they didn't care when I messed something up in my life because they were already expecting me to. I'd always been a disappointment.

_Welcome home. _

Later that night, I managed to get out of the depressing emptiness of my house, escaping to the training centre where no one judged me. Where people _feared_ me.

When I got to the centre Brutus was there to greet me, snickering before he even saw me.

"I heard about what happened."

"Shut up," I laughed, making my way over the knife station – the only place I ever went to.

The weight of the blade in my hand was such so familiar and reassuring after the craziness of the past couple of days. It made me sane again.

"They made a mistake letting you out," Venin called across the room at me. I glowered at him but didn't bother answering back. What was the point?

I didn't spend long there that night; a few hours maximum.

Just as I was packing away and preparing to leave, who came jogging over to me? Cato. Obviously. Damn, I thought I'd be able to avoid him.

"Clove," he nodded when he reached me, his blonde hair a mess and his clothes seemingly thrown on.

"Cato," I replied, equally as cool. "I'm just on my way out so if you don't mind…" I trailed off, walking around him in the direction of the exit.

I could sense him starring at my back as I walked away, despite him not saying anything, so turned around with my eyebrows raised.

"Is there something I can help you with?" I wondered politely.

I supposed that this was what was known as 'playing hard to get'. Well, whatever it was, it was the best fun I'd had in a while watching the confusion spread across his features. I had to bite down on my lip to hide my grin.

"What about the jail?" he asked finally.

"What about it?"

He scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to say.

"Well… did it not mean _anything_ to you?"

I looked up at him.

"Careful, Cato. People might start to think you care about someone other than yourself."

He rolled his eyes, finally playing along.

"Wouldn't want that," he answered, smirking but his eyes were… pained somewhat.

I turned around before he caught my slightly wild grin, marching away and out of the room. I didn't even stop until I got home.

I thought back to the night before and couldn't help but shiver with pleasure. I was _so_ not done with him.

What had been an interesting day had turned into the start of something else entirely, something that I didn't mind exploring. And who knew what could happen?

It was only the beginning…


End file.
